Exactly what Scheherazade had in mind!

I grew up on tales from the Arabian nights, and loved them all. One of my favourites was Sinbad the sailor.

(For the purists: yes, I know from research done in adulthood, that Sinbad’s stories were not in the original 14th century manuscript, but they'd been added by the time I came to read them, and that's good enough for me.)

The tales of Sinbad have everything I love. Acts of derring-do, a swashbuckling hero, sea voyages, power hungry villains with magical powers, people in need of rescue…

All the story needed was a Dame, a Prince who wants to be Elvis, and the ghost of Cap’n Flint, and behold! A pantomime!

In our story, Janjar wants to be Sultan. There's only one teeny little problem: there's already a rightful heir, in the shape of Prince Khaleed. However, if Khaleed doesn't turn up to give an important speech, he will forfeit the throne. So, Janjar’s evil sidekick, Witch Wei Up, devises a plan. She will make Khaleed disappear, Janjar will marry Khaleed's sister, Atisha, (bless you!) and then he will become Sultan.

But the villains have reckoned without Atisha’s true love, Captain Sinbad, and his first mate, Howie Doohan. To say nothing of the washerwoman, Wendy Wimblows, who really just wants to find Admiral Battlecruiser’s best uniform, which Sinbad stole from her washing line, because she shrunk Sinbad’s clothes…

Cue songs, dance, mayhem, corny jokes, and lots of audience participation.

I am sure this is exactly what Scheherazade had in mind.

You can read the script and find more details about Sinbad, here.

Enjoy!

Sinbad image courtesy of freepik.com